This Thing Upon Me [Order The eBook] [Harry Styles]

Chapter 14 (Re-post)

(DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. It's important to remember this is all totally fabricated, embellished, and exaggerated for entertainment purposes.)

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THIS IS A RE-POST OF CHAPTER 14 FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T SEE THE ORIGINAL.

February 2016

Jeff cleared his throat, shifting across the table, bringing me back to the discussion at hand. Where had we even left off?

"I appreciate you saying that, I really do. But...it's not even like that, y'know? Things were different...with uz. Believe it or not, he did actually tell me goodbye. Only me."

"Hm..." He pursed his lips.

"Yeah...it was all really f--ked up to be honest. But...he made sure he reached out before he left the hotel, and then again at the airport, and then again after he got home."

"Then what happened? How'd you get here? Not speaking for...what...nearly a year?"

"It was when he didn't come back."

"Ah..."

"When he left on the 18th, he promised it was just a break. That he'd be back in a couple of shows...by the South African leg, I think, which was a few shows later. But once we got to Jakarta—everything fell apart. They Skyped us—Simon and everyone—and just hit us with the news...and there was just no going back after that."

"Did he reach out anymore?"

"Zayn?" I asked. He nodded. "He did...but only after I'd already heard the news from someone else, and that's where I got pissed, y'know? It's just not something you want to hear from a corporate suit over Skype." I took my hat off and ruffled my hair, becoming overly warm. "That your friend or brother—or whatever—was gone and wasn't coming back. And there was just no time to talk him out of it, because he was already across the bloody globe by then. Sh-t...to be honest, it almost felt like he'd died—or like, uh, he'd been some kind of illusion all along. I don't know..."

"You never told me this." He looked concerned.

"It was bad, y'know. I couldn't really express myself for a while. But...uh...now I can. And I just know you don't do that...you don't just spring that on a person. It felt dodgy..." I grimaced. "I wouldn't speak to him for a while. And by the time I was done processing everything...I think his number had changed. I didn't take it personally, though. It was like a week later, I think, and I can only imagine the kind of heat he was taking from everyone. I would've changed my number too, probably sooner. But for him to not reach out right away with the new number, kind of pissed me off too, if I'm being honest."